High Maternal Mortality Rates for Black Moms Still a Mystery

It’s been called a conundrum. A mystery. A disgrace. A national crisis. But when you ask why black women in the United States die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth at three to four times the rate of other ethnic/racial groups, the answer is usually the same: “We simply don’t know.”

Why not? The short answer is–it’s complicated. It gets even more complex with older black mothers.

For one thing, the way data is collected on maternal mortality depends on the state. Some states such as Florida and Maryland make analytical comparisons between the standard death certificate for the mother and the birth certificate of the infant–and some states do not. For example, according to the final 2009 National Vital Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [PDF] and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Maryland has reportedly seen an improvement in its data collection on maternal mortality due to collecting multiple data sources, including the use of a separate checkbox question to indicate the pregnancy status of the mother at the time of death.

The harsh reality is there is no national standard or federal requirement on reporting maternal deaths and scant national data. The last national data was compiled in 2007 by the CDC’s Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System, which uses data from 52 U.S. reporting areas–50 states, New York City and Washington, D.C.

The surveillance system indicated wide disparities in pregnancy-related mortality ratios in the U.S., with the pregnancy-related ratio for white women at 11 deaths per 100,000 live births and 34.8 deaths per 100,000 live births for black women. The ratio was 15.7 deaths per 100,000 live births for women of other races.

In November, representatives of 14 states, including California, Florida, Maryland and New Jersey, and the city of Philadelphia convened in Atlanta for a day and a half-long meeting hosted by the CDC’s Reproductive Health Branch Division. The meeting was prompted by the need to better understand and collate best practices for the identification and review of maternal deaths at the state level, said Dr. William Callaghan, the CDC’s chief of Maternal and Infant Branch Division of Reproductive Health.

Eleanor Hinton Hoytt, president and CEO of the Washington-based Black Women’s Health Imperative, has some ideas. Like Callaghan and other investigators, she says access to care and quality of care are both issues that must be considered in connection with the higher rates of maternal mortality among African American women.

Hinton Hoytt says the nation has failed to develop a framework that allows black women to be well. She points to unequal treatment and access in the health care system, as well as institutionalized racism, social determinants that can prevent black women from accessing new medicines and cures.

“We have to be more patient-centered and deal with women across their lifespan–not just when they get sick,” said Hinton Hoytt [PDF]. Of course, this requires resources, which Hinton Hoytt says remains a major problem for organizations like hers to adequately address these issues.

California, considered a leader in the quest to get a handle on the real numbers, has collected new data for 2009, but its efforts have not produced good news for African American women. In fact, the maternal mortality ratio for African American women in California is in the 40s compared to other groups with ratios of 12 to 14.

“One out of every seven births in the U.S. each year occurs in California,” said Dr. Elliott Main, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at California Pacific Medical Center and medical director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which oversees the medical review for maternal deaths in the state. “African Americans account for 6 percent of the births in California, yet they represent 25 percent of the maternal deaths; a huge disparity.”

Main says African American women are at higher risk due to core morbidity conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity, which can raise the risk for maternal death.

Diseases of the heart and blood vessels, which the CDC says is now the leading cause of maternal mortality in the U.S., affect women across all racial and ethnic groups.

Compared with women aged 25-29, women aged 35-39 are more than twice as likely to suffer a pregnancy-related death, and women aged 40 or over have a roughly five-fold increased risk of pregnancy-related mortality, according to the report.

For older African American women, Callaghan found maternal mortality rates similar to those of developing countries, where the ratio is 150 per 100,000 live births.

“Age is a major factor. As women age, they bring with them the changes that happen as you grow older. And for some women, that’s chronic disease, such as hypertension,” said Callaghan.

Meanwhile, Main says his group is collaborating with 80 hospitals across California to create greater awareness around pregnancy-related complications to prevent maternal deaths. In January, he says, they plan to roll out a new initiative on hypertension and pregnancy. He hopes the state’s efforts will encourage others to follow suit.

Comments

While there may be racial discrimination and greater difficulty in getting access to health services for black women, it’s obvious that there is a genetic link to the risk factors for high maternal mortality,because this is a problem we face in Africa too. Maybe it’s not just better healthcare we need (tho’ that wouldn’t hurt).

In my own experience, I was neglected by my OBGYN and her staff. She “expected” my pregnancy to go off without a hitch because my first birth was textbook. What she didn’t realize was that I was more fatigued and stressed with the second pregnancy. Secondly, although I felt that I was not being given the proper care, it would be worse for me to change doctors during my third trimester. Going into the delivery room, I was delirious and could tell that this birth would be different. The baby went into crises and the hospital room swam before my eyes. Later, when I came to there was two nurses and my sister sitting in an ugly hospital room that looked more like a morgue. I felt nauseous and was too weak to speak. My sister told me later that the baby and I had been lost but were revived through the efforts of the hospital staff. My doctor was shaken and totally caught off guard. Could it be that arrogance or indifference is what is killing Black Mothers in the delivery room? This was the case in my story. If my sister had not been there, both my son and I would have died right there in the delivery room and been nothing but numbers in a medical report on minority women.

I really enjoyed reading your article! I just started my own business as a Wellness Coach for pregnant women. I am on a mission to help save black women and teen during their pregnancy. I look forward to reading more of your articles. Thank you very much.